EVERY year in January, we celebrate Dr Martin Luther King’s (MLK) day without truly reflecting on his profound message. Instead, we engage in futile rituals of song, dance and flowery speeches in his memory.
Over the years, statues and monuments have been erected and streets named in his honour, yet his messages of immense gravity have been erased.
If you were to ask 10 youths to name MLK’s best speech, one may likely respond with “I Have a Dream”. However, King’s legacy is immeasurable, and regrettably, not many are familiar with his contributions.
He wrote five books and gave as many as 450 speeches, but many of his dreams and hopes for the country do not get the attention they deserve.
Today, governors and school board members are restricting the education of slavery, the civil rights movement, Jim Crow and the teaching of MLK history in schools.
Since January 2021, researcher Jeffrey Sachs said, 35 states have introduced 137 Bills limiting what schools can teach about race, American history and politics.
MLK’s speech “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop”, delivered on April 3, 1968, at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee, was his last before his assassination.
This speech is relevant as it marks 56 years since its delivery, and it resonates with the ongoing situation in Palestine.
Malcolm X was forthright about Zionism, expressing that the weapon of neo-imperialism is “dollarism”.
MLK spoke about the injustices faced by city sanitation workers who went on strike. His speech was meant to inspire these workers, despite the looming threat of death and prosecution.
In the present environment, individuals participating in demonstrations or boycotts against Zionism may face the risk of being terminated or prosecuted under allegations of anti-Semitism.
The “Mountaintop” speech served as a symbol for MLK, representing the four civic virtues of struggle, hope, patience and submission to the will of God.
Passing through the Zionist web or valley to reach the mountaintop signifies a challenging journey. Given today’s difficult times, we must get to the mountaintop as one united community.
Regrettably, his speech “A Time to Break the Silence” denouncing American militarism is not even discussed on his anniversary or during black history month.
The speech on April 4, 1967, at New York’s Riverside Church was arguably his most controversial, at least when it was first delivered.
He said: “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defence than on programmes of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
Just 35 days later, on May 10, 1967, at the Hungry Club Forum in Atlanta, he delivered another impactful speech titled “The Three Evils of Society,” addressing racism, militarism and poverty.
He concluded by saying: “For those who are telling me to keep my mouth shut, I cannot do that.”
We need to remember that MLK stood for universal peace, justice and equality. Quoting from one of the most monumental speeches of his life, delivered one year before his assassination, he referred to the “triple evils” of America.
MLK said, “Poverty, racism and militarism are forms of violence that exist in a vicious cycle”.
He identified militarism as one of the “giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism”.
A cursory examination of the US military budget reveals expenditures nearing a trillion dollars, not including the ongoing wars the US has waged against those it opposes.
The billions of dollars spent on proxy wars and given to the Zionist-occupying regime deprived millions of homeless and hungry American children of their livelihoods.
The addiction to wars has led the US to issue a blank check and offer blind allegiance to the Zionist-occupying entity in Palestine.
MLK opposed the “Mafioso” militarism, that has resulted in genocide and the deaths of thousands of Palestinian freedom fighters. He championed truth, peace and justice, and now it is our time to carry on his legacy for the betterment of humanity.
